Booster seat guilt?

[lisajay]

I have my 2 yr old ds in a Marathon and my 4 yr old dd in a Regent in my car. My 4yr old has been using the built in seat in my parents car, but she has outgrown it. She is 42 lbs and 42 in. She is in my parents car almost as often as she is in ours, and it isn't practical to move the seats back and forth.
My parents have decided they want to get her a booster, so that it is easier for them to take in and out. I was hoping to keep her in a 5 pt harness as long as possible. The other part of the problem is financial. My parents have helped me finance the cost of 3 Britax carseats already, and this time we only have about $150 to spend. I looked into the Nautilus but decided it wouldn't be a good fit for my 2 because my children have broad shoulders and I've heard that can be a problem. We need this to be our last carseat. I can't risk either one of the kids outgrowing this seat. Is she ready for a booster? Is their another option in our price range? We are looking at the Britax Monarch.

[Joolsplus2]

Is she just barely four or almost 5? At barely 4 I'd be leery of boostering, but almost 5, no biggie.
If the car has LATCH I'd get the Sunshine Kids Monterey...a lot like the Monarch, but cheaper, and it LATCHes into the car. Monarch's fine, though, any good big deep booster with lots of SIP is usually a good choice for a younger booster rider. Just make sure everyone knows exactly where the lap and shoulderbelt go when it's buckled up properly (people sometimes route the belt really wrong around the armrests...)

:)

[lisajay]

Julie,
Thanks for responding to my question. My dd turned 4 in March so she won't be 5 for quite awhile. She is 42" tall and 42 lbs, so she is a pretty big girl. Is it more a question of spine strength? I wish the Nautilus was wider...

[calebsmama03]

Have you actually seen the nautilus IRL? My sister has one for her son and he fits great in it and is not a tiny/narrow child by any means! The radian is definitely narrow but that isn't my first thought when I see the nautilus...

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, I would at least give the Nautilus a trial run before you rule it out completely. The harness is SO easy to use that I don't think it's any harder than a booster seat (the strap is like butter in the adjuster, I bet she could do it herself and just have a g'parent give it a double-check).

But yeah, while it's not my fave to see a younger kid in a booster, I don't feel nearly as bad if it's a mega mondo huge booster ;)